Offham killer Kenneth Mockford jailed over sick sex acts with girl of five in 'cowboy' game

A convicted killer who committed "abhorrent" sex offences dating back 30 years has been jailed for six years - the maximum sentence available to the judge.

Pensioner Kenneth Mockford, of Church Road, Offham, West Malling, denied six charges of indecency with a child, but was convicted.

Judge Martin Joy imposed three consecutive terms of two years under legislation that existed at the time the offences were committed. Had it been under "new law", the sentence could have been 11 to 17 years.

Pensioner Kenneth Mockford has been jailed for six years

Maidstone Crown Court heard he forced a five-year-old girl to perform sex acts on him while telling her they were playing "cowboys and cowgirls".

"He said that's what cowgirls did as a matter of routine," said prosecutor Piers Reed. "But he told her she must not tell her parents or anyone else."

"I cannot think of a worse case in relation to these offences on a five-year-old. There is no question in my mind I should pass the maximum sentence..." - Judge Martin Joy

The 70-year-old, known as Ray, who previously lived in Kingfisher Road, Larkfield, was jailed for three-and-a-half years in 1988 for manslaughter and shortening a shotgun barrel.

In July last year, he was given a suspended sentence for possessing a firearm without a certificate.

Simon Wickens, defending, said Mockford continued to strenuously deny the allegations.

The court, he said, had to be cautious when considering whether or not to impose the maximum sentence.

Judge Joy said following conviction in November: "It may well be that members of the public would rightly consider that because of the gap left in the legislation there could be serious under-sentencing."

He also called Mockford "a highly manipulative rapist".

Judge Martin Joy sits at Maidstone Crown Court

The judge told him he might well deserve a sentence "way above the prescribed maximum at the time of the offences".

"I am restrained by the law," he said. "I cannot think of a worse case in relation to these offences on a five-year-old. There is no question in my mind I should pass the maximum sentence.

"A submission is made there could be worst cases and I should not pass the maximum sentence. That is a submission with which I do not agree. These are utterly abhorrent offences."

Mockford's name will appear on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.